BAVA METZIA 11-17 - This study material has been produced with the help of
the Israeli ministry of religious affairs.

1) [line 1] NE'EMAN (SHEVU'AS HESES)
(a) The Torah only obligates a person to swear if he admits to part of the
claim against him, but not if he is Kofer ha'Kol, i.e. he denies the entire
claim (see Background to Bava Metzia 5:6:a).
(b) Even so, the Rabanan required a person who is Kofer ha'Kol to make a
Shevu'ah known as a Shevu'as Heses, since a person usually does not make a
claim against his fellow man unless there is some basis to the claim.
Although the defendant usually would not be so brazen as to deny the entire
claim, the Rabanan still suspected that he intends to pay at a later time
and he is denying the claim now in order to delay the payment (Shevu'os
40b).
(c) This Shevu'ah is made even on claims of Karka (real estate), even though
one does not make other Shevu'os with regard to Karka (TOSFOS to Bava Metzia
6a DH Ela, citing Rav Hai Ga'on)

*2*) [line 3] EINO NE'EMAN - that is, the Loveh is not believed and the
Malveh makes a Shevu'ah and collects the debt (see Background to Bava Metzia
5:9)

3) [line 19] KASAV LAH L'CHALASEI ITZTELA D'MEILASA BI'CHESUVASAH - he wrote
for his daughter-in-law in her Kesuvah an elegant robe made of fine wool [as
part of her dowry]

4) [line 20] V'KIBLAH ALEI - the husband's father became an Arev for the
Kesuvah (AREV - a guarantor of a loan)
(a) An Arev is a guarantor for a loan who accepts upon himself to pay back
the loan instead of the borrower, under certain circumstances.
(b) There are different levels of Arevim. A normal Arev only has to pay back
the loan if the borrower cannot pay. An Arev Kablan may be approached to pay
even if the lender has not yet tried to collect from the borrower. (See
Insights to Gitin 49:2.)
(c) Although an Arev to a Kesuvah is not normally Mishta'abed unless he is
an Arev Kablan (Bava Basra 174b), nevertheless for his own son he is
Mishta'abed (SHITAH MEKUBETZES)

5) [line 21] IRCHAS KESUVASAH - her Kesuvah was lost
6) [line 22] ASU SAHADEI - witnesses came
7) [line 30] AVID INISH D'MIKRI V'AMAR - it happens that people chance to
evade the obligations that they accept upon themselves (as opposed to those
in which Beis Din obligates them)

8) [line 38] SHE'KEVAR NIMCHAL SHI'ABUDO - the legal power of the document
was annulled [after the debt was repaid, and it cannot give the creditor the
power to collect the debt owed to him from Meshu'abadim, real estate with a
lien on it, which has been sold in the interim]

9) [line 38] L'MACHAR UL'YOMA CHARA - tomorrow or another day [in the
future]
10) [line 39] MAI IRYA... - Why is this talking about...
11) [line 40] SHETAREI CHOV HA'MUKDAMIN - loan documents, the dates of which
precedes the dates that the documents were signed

12) [line 41] LO SHECHICHEI INSHEI D'PAR'EI B'YOMEI - it is not common that
people repay a loan on the [same] day [on which they took the loan]

13a) [line 43] MISHUM D'KABA'I MIHADAR L'MIZFA BEI ZIMNA ACHARISI - because
he wants to borrow money with it another time
b) [line 44] UL'PESHITEI D'SAFRA CHAYISH - and wants to save the money for
the expenses of the scribe [should he have to write another Shtar] (The
expenses of the scribe are the responsibility of the debtor, but often the
creditor pays them since the debtor has no money. In that case, the creditor
may collect the extra money from the debtor after the loan has been repaid.)

14) [line 45] MALVEH GUFEI LO SHAVAK - the creditor himself will not let
[such a Shtar be used for another loan]

15) [line 45] U'MAFSEDEI LI - and they will cause me a loss [in that they
will declare the Shtar invalid as a Shtar Mukdam, and they will prevent me
from collecting from the Meshu'abadim from which I am entitled to collect]

16) [line 50] MISHUM D'IS LEI RAVCHA - because he has a profit [were he to
collect from the Meshu'abadim from the earlier date]

17) [line 51] V'LO AMAR V'LO MIDI - and he does not say anything

18a) [line 52] MAI IKA D'KATARIF LEKUCHOS? - What profit would he gain from
being deceitful and using the Shtar again? Since the two loans were on the
same date, there are no extra Meshu'abadim from which he could collect from
buyers
b) [line 52] BI'SHETAR SHE'NIMCHAL SHI'ABUDO LO SHAVIK - with a Shtar,
the legal power of which was annulled [after the debt was repaid, and it
cannot give the creditor the power to collect the debt owed to him from
Meshu'abadim, real estate with a lien on it, which has been sold in the
interim,] he (the creditor) will not let [such a Shtar be used for another
loan]

17b---------------------------------------17b

20) [line 2] K'MAN D'NAKIT SHETARA B'YADEI DAMI - is like one who holds a
legal document in his hand

21a) [line 5] IY LAV D'DELA'I LACH CHASPA - Had I not lifted up for you the
potsherd
b) [line 5] LO MASHKACHAS MERGENISA TUSAH - would you have found the gem
beneath it?

23) [line 15] MAH HO'ILU CHACHAMIM B'TAKANASAN? - What did the Chachamim
accomplish with their enactment?

24) [line 17] NIS'ARMELAH - if she was widowed

25) [line 18] GOVAH ES HA'KOL - she collects all [of the Kesuvah, the
Maneh/Masayim and the Tosefes] (KESUVAH - the Jewish marriage contract)
(a) When a man marries a woman who was a Besulah (virgin) at the time of her
Kidushin, he must write her a Kesuvah document in which he promises that she
will receive 200 Zuz (the value of 960 grams of silver) from him or his
estate if he divorces her or dies. The Tana'im argue whether this obligation
is mid'Oraisa or mid'Rabanan (Kesuvos 10a). (See Insights to Kesuvos 10:1.)
(b) When a man marries a widow or a divorcee who had once been married in
the past (i.e. she was a Nesu'ah and was not just an Arusah) he must write
her a Kesuvah document in which he promises that she will receive 100 Zuz
from him or his estate if he divorces her or dies. Even if the woman is
still a virgin, the woman is classified as a "Be'ulah" with regard to the
amount of her Kesuvah because she was once married and she is not given the
Kesuvah of a Besulah (Kesuvos 11a). The obligation to write a Kesuvah for a
widow or divorcee is only mid'Rabanan (Kesuvos 10b -- The Gemara there
explains that the term for "widow," "Almanah," alludes to her Kesuvah of a
"Manah," or 100 Zuz).
(c) The other financial part of the Kesuvah is known as the Tosefes, which
is any additional money that the husband wishes to add to the Kesuvah.

26) [line 19] SHE'LO CHASAV LAH ELA AL MENAS L'CHONSAH - he only wrote her
[a Tosefes into her Kesuvah] on the condition that he get married to her